Why do we limit infidelity to physical behavior? Feelings are just as much a part of a relationship as sex.

So what happens if we fall for someone else while in a relationship? “Emotional cheating” is not a new concept. But why do we still treat it like a technicality?

I don’t know how many times I’ve heard, “He left me for someone he’d been seeing for three months, but he never technically cheated.”

When we enter into a relationship, we’re making a commitment to somebody — physically and emotionally. So when those feelings are transferred to someone else, is that not the same thing as being physical with someone else?

Every time I lay this question on someone, it stumps them. But for the sake of argument, you could say you didn’t mean to fall in love with someone else, while with physical cheating you made the conscious decision to kiss or sleep with someone else.

But my argument is that the other person has the same reaction to emotional cheating as they do to physical cheating, most likely. The same thoughts spin around their head:

What did I do to make them do this?

I should’ve been better for them.

I should’ve told them I love them more.

How could they do this to me?

So even if the cheating is “accidental,” it’s still cheating. If they’re spending all their time texting this person or spending all night at this person’s place, and they have feelings for them — but they didn’t sleep with them — they might as well have done so anyway.

Does it really make a difference to know they weren’t sexual with them? In fact, knowing you were the one standing between them is probably bound to make you feel even sh*ttier.

So, cheaters, before you make the blind decision to simply save your sex until after you break up with your S.O., just remember that you’re not doing anyone any favors by sneaking around in any regard. You’re not “in the clear.” Just grow a pair of balls and do the right thing.